On Saturday, September 15th, some of the youth and I (Jen) participated in a simultaneous service project day in Half Moon Bay.  We helped with a beach restoration project and did a small part in protecting and caring for the beautiful creation God has entrusted us with.  Plus we had a lot of fun! 

We participated in this project on this particular day in conjunction with CURRENT, a network within the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship that serves to connect young Baptist leaders. Every fall, CURRENT coordinates a national mission project called 11-on-11, which is an exciting and energizing opportunity to engage in missions in a very intentional way.  This year, 11-on-11 will still be an event organized by young Baptists, but participation was encouraged by Baptists of all ages. Historically, 11-on-11 began as an effort to do something “constructive” to remember 9/11 – a day which is forever marked by “destruction.”

The first year, September 11th fell on a Saturday, and eleven states participated in local mission projects on that day. Since then, the project has grown and it has become a way for Baptists across all ages and all states to connect and serve God in whatever way their own local community needs.  We chose to participate with Hands on Bay Area, a local community service organization that organizes various projects in the Bay Area all throughout the year. 

This was a great reminder to me, and I think to the youth as well, that as followers of Christ, we are called to serve; not only when it fits our schedule or out of guilt or selfish ambition, but because by serving and following the example of Jesus, we act the most like God.  Mother Theresa said, "Faith in action is love, and love in action is service.  By transforming that faith into living acts of love, we put ourselves in contact with God Himself, with Jesus our Lord."

Check out these links:
*we made it onto the CBF website- http://www.thefellowship.info/current/11on11.icm
*Hands on Bay Area- www.handonbayarea.org

Believe it or not, these three things are actually related- they all describe the life of our church in the past few weeks. 

First of all, we celebrated with David and Alexander as they decided to follow Christ and make that decision public through baptism.  It was a wonderful service and a great reminder of what it is to be church family.  Welcome to the family!

 

Through lots of crazy shopping and frantic work, our church sponsored and put together 50 backpacks with school supplies for refugee children in the Bay Area.   That's right, I said 50, and all within about 3-4 days!  It was actually a lot of fun, thanks to everyone who bought the supplies and to the youth for putting them together.  

 

Finally, we held our annual Church of the Nations Labor Day picnic on September 3rd (Labor Day...weird, huh?) at Julius Kahn Recreation Center in the Presidio.  All of our congregations were represented, as well as several students and friends from San Francisco State, and we had great times of worship, fellowship, games, and of course lots of good food.  No Labor Day picnic is complete without burgers, hot dogs, and sushi.  Mary Beth also had some extra protein in the form of an unfortunate flying insect, ha ha.  It was more than a little windy and cold, but both kids and adults enjoyed the playground, softball, tennis, a drum circle, hula hooping, and yes, watermelon smashing.  It was a wonderful time to celebrate with our collective church family and to be reminded of the bond we have in Christ.  

 P.S.- Check out the scrapbook for lots more pics!